“Are you still blogging?” Starting over

A few months ago, a friend asked me whether I “was still blogging”. Almost offended and shocked, I reacted defensively and said that of course, I was! I’ve been blogging for more than 8 years and it has become a part of my identity. The idea that somebody would think I stopped blogging seemed ridiculous to me!

I looked at how long ago I had written my last blog post. It was more than 6 months ago and by now, it has almost been 10 months. That’s insane! How did that happen? How did I neglect the blog this much? Did I not find it interesting anymore? Did time just pass by too quickly? Was I moving my focus elsewhere? What am I if I’m not a blogger?

Why did I stop blogging?

The reasons why I actually had not blogged for almost 10 months is compiled of a whole lot of excuses and incidentally coincides with one of the most stressful periods of my life. When I think about the reason why the blog was phased out of my day to day life, the reason is two-fold. My last post was written while I was traveling south from Cairns (which took us over a month) and arriving in Sydney on the very end of my travel budget and right after I edited photos for many many hours. I simply needed a break.

For those of you who don’t know much about blogging or those who think blogging is a frivolous hobby, I can assure you, it is not. While the goal of being a professional travel blogger is a beautiful goal, it’s also one of those big audacious goals. It’s a goal that is not realistic for many people and social media is a very intimidating way to let you think it will never happen. Simply put, after blogging for this long, I was tired, overwhelmed and demotivated.

Here I come Australia!

The other reason to stop blogging was that I was/am determined to have a future in Australia. To be able to stay in Australia, all goals were set on finding a sponsor, which is a company that will help pay for your visa and that will vouch for you. Shortly after arriving in Sydney, I scored a job at an exciting start-up. A start-up with a lot of potential and a great team. While my blog was and will never be a way to stay in the country, I decided to put everything on this start-up. After all, there was a chance that they would sponsor me!

Working at a start-up is great for travelers. Why? It’s exciting, it’s forever changing and there is always something to learn. These are great elements for someone who is used to this constant movement. I loved it! However, not all was rainbows and sunshine. Working at a start-up also means that everyone is learning, mistakes are being made, the pay is low and the hours are long, oh and the sponsorship? That didn’t work out. The result? Every chance I got to recover from this schedule, I spent recovering in nature.

I got lucky guys! A great team, an epic bunch of brand new friends that have by now turned into long-life friends and finally, after many years of travel, I had some stability and a base again. But the long schedule became too long and the visa situation too stressful and there was simply no headspace left for writing, editing and the hustle needed to make the blog a success. Anything and everything needed to go to either making this start-up job a successful career, any writing had to be paid and on the weekends I regenerated or worked some more.

TOO MUCH!

I booked a trip to Europe for six weeks and was willing to sacrifice everything in Sydney for a much-needed break. Now I’m back in Sydney, no job, no place to live and let’s face it, everything is a mess. And within this mess, I’m finding the desire to write again! After attending a travel blogging conference (I know, they exist!), meeting a wonderful group of fellow bloggers, making the hard decision to leave my family and friends again (crying on the airport floor? Yes, that happened) and arriving back to see my loving Sydney family (boy, did I get lucky), I feel free (and confused as hell)!

TMI?

Maybe, but it’s also important to give you guys something more, to give you something real, to show you that travelling the world is not easy, but if this is what makes you happy, you gotta do it! Going back into the box is not an option! I know I’ve helped people through this blog and that is my main motivator to keep going. I’ve been doing this for so many years now, what do you mean I stopped blogging? Blogging is a part of me!

After moving into Sydney room within walking distance from the beach (thanks to one of my guardian angels), I committed to start writing again. In the next few weeks, you will be reading about my recent spontaneous trip to Byron Bay, about my trip to the most Northern Tip of Australia and a collection of few of my best travel tips. If you have any questions for me, or if you’re gearing up to travel yourself in the near future, pop a comment below and I’ll get back to you with my best answers. And in case it wasn’t clear, thank you a million for sticking around!